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1984 Massacre Victims Threaten Self-Immolation

By P.T.I.

Rediff, Feb. 7, 2003

"Two women widowed during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots on Friday threatened to immolate themselves on Feb. 16 in New Delhi to protest the government's 'inaction' in providing adequate relief to them. 'We have been suffering since the past 18 years, but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears,' Darshan Kaur, president of the Widow Jatha, said. The group is fighting for the punishment of those who triggered the riots. 'If the Parliament attack case can be completed within a year, why has it taken 18 years for the hearings to end in our case and that too with the acquittal of the main accused,' she asked. 'It is sad that we have to resort such means to be heard.' She said that only those people who lost their family members were 'not the only affected ones,' but the entire Sikh community had suffered because of the riots as 'scores of Gurdwaras were burnt.' The widows also demanded compensation of Rs. 10 lakh and those provided with jobs should be given promotions and pensions hiked, Kaur said."
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